Inside Croydon

From February, Transport for London will be withdrawing the 118 route, which runs from Brixton to Morden via Streatham, Streatham Park and Mitcham.

The decision has been made following a public consultation in which, even TfL admits, there was overwhelming public opposition to the proposals.

TfL’s proposals were for the 45 route to be extended to cover parts of the 118 service. Among the objections to the changes were that this longer route could prove less reliable. TfL did not include service frequencies in its consultation.

Film star Adam Pearson says he is ‘heartbroken’ by Commons vote: ‘We have a government who are willing to help disabled people die whilst doing nothing to help them live’

All four of Croydon’s MPs – three Labour, one Conservative – voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill when it had its second reading in at the House of Commons yesterday.

But some disability rights groups and activists reacted with dismay that the Bill passed this stage with a vote of 330 for and 275 against.

Tax-avoiding millionaires and newspaper owners are getting all excited about calls for another election. The same people who have said it’s too soon for another vote on Brexit, reports WALTER CRONXITE, political editor

A petition raised by a publican in the West Midlands who describes himself as “patriotic, not political” (oh, how we laffed at that!) has attracted 2.5million signatures in just a few days.

But in Croydon, barely 2% of the electorate have bothered to sign the thing, official figures show.

WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on a new unwitting subject for a sharp parliamentary pen

The last time a national newspaper dismissed a public figure as a “turnip”, Graham Taylor’s days as England football manager were numbered.

Yesterday, it was Steve Reed OBE, the townie MP for Streatham and Croydon North, who was given the turnip treatment, this time not by The S*n, but by the gently incisive pen (or laptop) of Guardian parliamentary sketchwriter, John Crace.

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A listed building, and surrounding parkland that was bought by public subscription 100 years ago, has been declared by government agency Historic England to be at risk of neglect, decay or inappropriate development. By STEVEN DOWNES

Tory MP Chris Philp and his podgy pal, Jason Perry, were telling a park friends group last night how “protecting and maintaining our green spaces and parks is vital”.

Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, reports on how the tide of support for one local MP in government is going out very quickly

Steve Reed, the Croydon MP promoted to environment secretary in Keir Starmer’s government, is rapidly finding himself out of his depth in a sea of sewage… and worse.

Devoted townie Reed was quickly found out by the farming lobby, who are ready to march on Westminster after changes in inheritance tax announced in last week’s Budget.

Activists in Norbury and Streatham are halfway to a fund-raising target to meet legal costs to consider a possible challenge to planning permission for a 14-storey tower which locals fear will destroy forever one of the finest views in all London.

Lambeth Council has granted permission to the Woodgate Tower development, to be built on the site of a disused Homebase off Greyhound Lane.

This decision was made despite more than 1,000 petition signatures, 800 formal objections and 400 complaints uploaded on to the GLA website.

It’s the annual London to Brighton veteran car rally this Sunday morning, when more than 100 old bangers set off from Hyde Park heading for the coast at Brighton, passing through Streatham, Norbury and Thornton Heath, trundling under the Croydon Flyover on to South Croydon, and then past Purley and Coulsdon along the way.

It is half-term week, which for rail passengers means a whole load of disruption to their regular services across south London.

Signalling upgrade work started at the weekend and is due to continue until this Friday, November 1, “which will result in major changes to train services across south London”, according to operators Southern.

In total, 11 stations will have no Southern services and 16 stations will have no Thameslink services during this week.

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